Pearls Summer 2024
Dane County Immunization Coalition Updates
Quarterly Educational Meeting
Mark your calendars! Our next quarterly educational meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 from 12pm to 1:30pm. Watch your email in the coming weeks for the agenda which will have the Zoom link. For those of you who like to plan ahead, the meeting after that is scheduled for Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
Back 2 School Free Haircutz
The DCIC is excited to be back for another year of working with local partners to provide vaccine education, childhood immunizations, and a voucher for a free pair of shoes for children who receive a vaccination at the “Back 2 School Free Haircutz” event hosted by JP Hair Design. The 16th annual event will be held on Sunday, August 25, 2024 at the Alliant Energy Center and will bring together over 30 barbers from across Dane County to provide free haircuts to children entering grades K-12 with a goal of providing 1,000 free haircuts.
DCIC will set up a booth at the event and encourage parents/guardians to check to see if their children are up to date on recommended vaccinations. Each child will be verified for vaccination needs using the Wisconsin Immunization Registry, and then offered the ability to receive those vaccines at the event. DCIC will provide an incentive in the form of a gift card for shoes to each child that receives a vaccine at the event.
In addition to the event being an opportunity to provide vaccines, DCIC will distribute vaccine educational materials to parents/guardians of children attending the event and be available to answer questions parents/guardians may have about vaccines.
The event will need volunteers, so if you are interested, please let us know by email: [email protected]
Immunization Updates
Meningococcal Vaccination Will Be Required for School Entry for 2024-2025
These changes, which were initially effective for Wisconsin schools and child care centers on February 1, 2023 and were suspended by the legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules are now fully in effect. Please review the DHS document called “School and Child Care Center Immunization Requirements” which provides a summary of the changes and detailed information.
Merck’s New 21-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV21) For Adults
On June 17, FDA licensed Capvaxive, a 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV21), for use in adults age 18 years and older. This PCV21 targets several serotypes not included in other PCV brands that cause serious pneumococcal disease more often in adults than in children. It does not include certain serotypes in the PCV brands recommended for children.
Pfizer’s New Pentavalent Meningococcal Vaccine (MenACWY-MenB)
The pentavalent meningococcal vaccine protects against N. meningitidis serogroups A, B, C, W, and Y, and is licensed for use among persons aged 10–25 years.
The ACIP has recommended that if a patient is receiving MenACWY and MenB vaccines at the same visit, Penbraya may be given instead for the following groups:
- Healthy persons aged 16–23 years (routine schedule) when shared clinical decision-making favors administration of MenB vaccine.
- Persons aged ≥10 years who are at increased risk for meningococcal disease (for example, persistent complement deficiencies, complement inhibitor use or functional or anatomic asplenia).
Please note that different manufacturers’ MenB vaccines are NOT interchangeable.
Is it acceptable to draw up vaccine doses in advance?
Watch the 1-minute answer, part of Immunize.org’s Ask the Experts Video Series.
The video briefly shares the reasons why ACIP discourages the practice of prefilling vaccine into syringes, primarily because of the increased possibility of administration and dosing errors. An exception may be considered when only a single type of vaccine is to be administered during a clinic (e.g., influenza).
Health Equity
Vaccine Hesitancy in the Plain Community
Dr. Mark Louden presented to community partners in Clark County on the topic of “Vaccine Hesitancy in the Plain Community.” The recording is available here and the slides are here.
Promoting Immunization
Immunization Quality Improvement for Providers
The Immunization Quality Improvement for Providers (IQIP) program serves to assist and support health care providers by identifying opportunities to improve vaccine uptakes and to help providers be:
- Motivated to try new vaccination service delivery strategies and incorporate changes into their current practices.
- Supported in sustaining changes and improvement to their vaccination service delivery.
- Aware of and knowledgeable about vaccination coverage and missed opportunities to vaccinate.
- Able to use available data from the IIS to improve services and coverage.
To help your practice get started, click here.
In the Media
Free Opportunity to View Shot in the Arm and Receive CE Credit
Shot in the Arm, a documentary exploring vaccine hesitancy, is available free for online viewing during the coming year thanks to the generous support of the Indiana Immunization Coalition and Indiana University School of Medicine. Click here to register to view the film and to obtain CME CNE, or CPE credit.
Recording of History of Public Health Lecture Available
Judith W. Leavitt, Ph.D. delivered a talk called “Topsy-Turvy History: Regulation and Individual Rights in Public Health” in which she draws on her book The Healthiest City to demonstrate that social and historical contexts informed responses to epidemics. Using examples of smallpox and influenza, it finds topsy-turvy changes in public health’s efforts to control infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Watch a recording of the lecture here.